Patrick Husbands isn’t one to mess with a winning formula.
So, after guiding Paramount Prince to a convincing five-length, wire-to-wire victory in last month’s Plate Trial, the veteran jockey took the horse to the lead from the start of the $1-million King’s Plate on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.
And once again the strategy paid off as Paramount Prince earned a length-and-a-half victory over stablemate Elysian Field in the first jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown.
“I don’t want to change anything that’s fixed already,” Husbands said. “If somebody wanted to lead… but he left there running and I just let him do his own thing.
“I just didn’t want to disappoint him and he got the job done.”
Husbands, who earned his third Plate title, knew early Paramount Prince would be tough to beat.
“By the eighth pole the first time around I knew it would take a good horse to beat him,” Husbands said. “He was just enjoying it out there.
“It’s amazing how he does it. He just glides… if you watch this horse, you never see his legs on the ground. He’s just a racehorse.”
Husbands captured his first Plate aboard Wando in 2003. He teamed up with trainer Mark Casse to win again in ’14 with filly Lexie Lou.
Paramount Prince, an 8/1 pick, concluded the 1 1/4-mile race in 2:01.93 on Woodbine’s Tapeta course, just off Moira’s record of 2:01.48. Casse, 15 times Canada’s top thoroughbred trainer, also earned a third career Plate but his first two came with fillies — Lexie Lou and Wonder Gadot in 2018.
“Patrick told me last time, ‘This horse breaks so sharp that I’m not going to take it away from him,”‘ Casse said. “That’s what happened in the Plate Trial and as much speed as there was today, we talked about it because I thought some horses would go.
“But he wins the race many times at the start. He kind of tells everyone, ‘Hey, I’m going to the lead,’ because he breaks so fast.”
Filly Elysian Field captured last month’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks at Woodbine with Sahin Civaci aboard. The horse is also trained by Casse.
Stanley House, with Javier Castellano aboard, took third in the 17-horse field. The race generated an all-time Woodbine wagering record of $18,127,000.
Civaci and Elysian Field appeared poised to make a move on Paramount Prince late in the race. Husbands said while he heard Elysian Field behind him, he never felt like he had to ask more of his horse.
“I started to hear screaming behind there, but I didn’t want to squeeze my horse early,” Husbands said. “The more I hear screaming, the better it is for me.
“If I don’t hear the screaming and pull the trigger, he probably gets beat, right?”
The remainder of the field, in order of finish, included: Velocitor; Touch’n Ride; Enjoythesilent; Cool Kiss; Twin City; Philip My Dear; Moon Landing; Wickenheiser; Twowaycrossing; Kalik; Morstachy’s; Kaukokaipuu; Silent Miracle; and Midnight in Malibu.
Paramount Prince becomes the first Plate Trial winner to also collected the Plate since Big Red Mike in 2010.
The chestnut son of Society’s Chairman-Platinum Steel earned a third triumph from six lifetime starts. Paramount Prince has never finished out of the money (two seconds, one third) and the $600,000 winner’s share boosted his earnings over $730,000.
Paramount Prince paid $18, $9.70 and $5.80, while Elysian Field returned $5.90 and $4.10. Stanley House paid $4.10.
